Day 102, Miles Ridden Today (Saturday): 0 Miles Ridden Overall: 3187 Camping: $0, We are staying overnight at Waterford Oaks BMX in Waterford, MI- To track online our current location, see instructions on the “Ride the Nation Route Plan page of this website- Also, Follow us on Twitter, search “ridethenation”- Check out our blog on www.bmxmania.com for exclusive details you won’t find here.Ahhh.. there’s nothing like waking up to the sound of a gate test drop on Saturday morning at a National. I don’t even bother setting my alarm any more. I woke up having slept pretty well without the rain fly. The sun was shining and any sign of the former days’ rain was all but gone. I grabbed my shower bag, picked up my volunteer t-shirt and headed to the neighboring waterpark for a pre-arranged shower set up for the weekend BMX families. (I swear I think Jennifer West thought of everything!)

While waiting for a shower, I saw a lady I’d met at South Park whose dog Coco really likes. We started talking and she introduced me to her friend, Dawn. She told her about our bike ride and I told them how we packed all of our clothes and toiletries for the whole summer in a bag about the size of a bookbag. When I showed her my 14x14” towel, Dawn looked stunned. Then she told me she had an extra towel she had taken from a hotel room. It was clean and dry and felt quite luxurious compared to my car detailing towel. Thanks, Dawn!

I returned to the track clean and smelling good. I met up with Frankenbutt and the Beast and we had breakfast compliments of the Waterford Oaks Parents Association. We enjoyed pancakes and then as we walked around, we discovered that a very special “family member” was here: Coco’s sister, Zoe! When we first picked up Coco in NJ, we took her to the Jack Frost Classic BMX race in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. While there, we met a nice couple from the Boston area who love French Bulldogs. Chris and Melissa asked for the breeder’s name and number and before leaving Jersey, picked up Zoe. Although we had exchanged pics of the pups, the two had not seen each other since their early litter days. Coco and Zoe enjoyed playing chase and “zoomies” until they were both too warm to anything but lay in the shade. It was terrific fun for all of us and the Beast enjoyed holding the two girls in her lap.

While we were hanging out and catching up, the announcer called the “Warren family” to the infield. We left Coco with her sister and headed there to see what was up. To our surprise, Oakland County made a special plaque commemorating our ride into their county! I almost cried on the spot. It was such a kind thing and it will be a terrific memory we can display in our home when we return. During the presentation, we learned that Waterford Oaks is one of the longest running BMX tracks in the country, open almost as long as Sarasota, FL BMX. AWESOME! We managed to stop at both tracks during our epic ride!

As the first round of racing wrapped up, I reported in for scoring. I scored the second round and the mains of 108 motos. The other scorers and I agreed to circulate in and out of the shady and sunny spots so none of us ended up sunburned. Considering that Frankenbutt got another round of shorts’ edge sunburn, I was glad that the 3 of us took turns in the shade. Following the racing, the Beast was eager to use her waterpark pass so Frankenbutt took her in while Coco stayed with me to post a blog. Then we switched so that the Beast and I could ride a few tube rides with her. We had fun … she mostly enjoyed seeing the terror on my face when our tube spun me around so that I was facing backwards and couldn’t see the drops and turns ahead. When the park closed @ 7, we returned to find the Parents’ Association Spaghetti dinner well under way. As we ate, Allison, who oversees the Concessions, came up and brought us freshly made salad just for us! It was sooooo good! It’s tough to keep fruits or vegetables on the bike so a fresh salad was a nice treat! Thank you, Allison!

At one point during the day, someone showed us the local Oakland Press paper. Apparently, we made the front page with a terrific headline! In addition to covering our crazy story, they also published most everything we said about BMX! YEAH! That’s what it’s all about.With our bellies full, we wanderer back to the camping area and found a bunch of kids playing volleyball in the set up sand pit in front of a stage where more kids were doing Karaoke. There were BMX moms and dads congregating around the outer edges laughing and having a good time. Before long, the Beast and I joined the kids on the volleyball court and had a good time. When the Karaoke MC called the Beast’s and my name, we made our way to the stage where the Beast had pre-chosen Fergie’s song, “Fergilicious” for us to sing. I’m not much of a singer but evidently that’s the point of it ??? Whether anyone else enjoyed it or not, she and I were cracked up. Later, the Beast roped her dad into singing Elvis’ song “Love me Tender” which he did reluctantly … and sang it well. I actually got some goosebumps listening to him sing. I LOVE THAT MAN!We talked and played for quite some time and I found my eyelids going together around 10:30pm. Both Frankenbutt and the Beast agreed they were tired and we made our way back to our 7x7’ humble abode. Coco was eager to get in the tent, too and we drifted off to sleep as I recounted in my mind what a good day it had been.

So nice to meet you this weekend. It was fun scoring with you and sharing the shade at Waterford Oaks! I'll catch up with you at Grands and bring you something with cherries from Traverse City, Michigan, the cherry capital of the world and a special doggie treat for your pooch.

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Dawn Robins

7/31/2011 11:32:13 pm

Hi there! It was nice meeting you this weekend. You and your family are definitely an inspiration to all of us BMXers who take the luxuries of traveling for granted. Good luck with the rest of your trip. Stay safe and see you at the Grands!!

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A BMX mom and First Time Blogger who loves travelling, playing poker and laughing every day!